Fast Facts on Author Emily Casey

Fast Facts is a series focusing on authors, artists, musicians--anyone who creates something we enjoy--by presenting YOU, the reader, with some quick, fun little facts you never knew about them, or even find out what kind of things our talented artists recommend.  Notes from the Nerdette is honored to present our very first edition of Fast Facts with author Emily Casey!

General Facts
Name: Emily Casey
Claim to Fame: Author of The Fairy Tale Trap

Books
Favorite Book of All-Time: Soulless by Gail Carriger
Favorite Book Series of All-Time: Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
Favorite Childhood Book: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Last Book Read: The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt

Movies and Music
Favorite Movie: Ever After
Favorite Movie Series: Back to the Future
Favorite Music Artist: Muse
Writing Music: Muse, Taylor Swift, Enya, How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack

Writing (and when there is a lack thereof)
Writing Tips: First drafts need to be messy; Write every chance you get!
Non-Writing Pastimes: Gardening, Twitter, Running

The Secret Austen

Let's admit it: Jane Austen has permeated our culture in a way that no other author has.  Okay, so we have Dickens's A Christmas Carol floating around every Christmas.  And Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is a big favorite.  And Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights has a fanbase (though I can never figure out why--why?!).  But, love her or hate her (I, for one, simply adore her), Jane Austen can--and will--slink onto your bookshelf, your TV screen, your local movie theatre somehow, even though she's long, long gone.  So what that she was born 236 (and six days) ago?  She's still totally modern!  And she somehow keeps popping up in twentieth and twenty-first century pop culture (without containing the words "pride", "prejudice", "sense", "sensibility", "mansfield", "northanger", "emma", or "persuasion").  If you're a Janeite itching for something that doesn't involve empire-waist dresses and with fewer cravats, this Janeite recommends you check out some updated, but heavily Austen influenced, books and movies:

1. You've Got Mail (1996 film): Written by Nora and Delia Ephron (the former of whom is going to turn Lost in Austen into a film--woohoo!  And the former is a YA author, so basically they both win awesome points by me), this has got to be one of my favorite movies ever.  Okay, so, on the surface, this film about really, really old technology and AOL chatting in its most primitive days really doesn't seem like the most Austen-influence thing ever.  The heavy influences and allusions to Pride and Prejudice are simply staggering.  Basically, replace GBP with bookstores and throw in an ancient Internet system, put Meg Ryan in Elizabeth Bennet's place and Tom Hanks in Mr Darcy's, and thus results You've Got Mail.  (Also: watching Hanks chuck a copy of a Firth/Ehle edition of P&P across a table in favor of some booze is just freaking hilarious.)

 

2. The Lake House (2006 film): Time-travel and a funky boxy-ish--no, this is not Doctor Who.  Calm down, Whovians.  I'm talking about the last time Reeves/Bullock worked together on a movie, and it wasn't on Speed.  Okay, so I'm including this on the list because, uh, a really old copy of Persuasion is almost waved across the screen to tell the audience, "THIS IS ONE OF OUR INFLUENCES AND AUSTEN IS AMAZING."  In this very underrated flick, Keanu Reeves is more or less the Wentworth counterpart (and instead of one amazing letter at the end, it's a series of a lot of shorter ones) and Sandra Bullock is, I suppose, Anne Elliot.  As if the writer of this movie couldn't scream Austen enough, they even had Bullock read out of Persuasion: "There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved." Heart!

3. I Capture the Castle (1948 novel, 2003 film): If you thought Dodie Smith was always preoccupied with spotty dalmatians, you're wrong--in fact, she's quite the Janeite!  I Capture the Castle is simply speckled with Austen references--at the very start of the novel, one character asks the protagonist about living in an Austen or a Bronte novel kind of life: "Which would be nicest--Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?"  (If you're not squeeing already, read the book and I dare you not to squee during the whole of it.)  Frankly, I haven't seen the film and can't be much of a judge whether it is accurate or even any good at all (though it seems to have low reviews--however, Romola Garai stars in it!  Of course, that merit doesn't necessarily make it any good--Angel was a disaster and had her as the star...but that's another rant-y tangent).

 4. Harry Potter: Did you know that along with C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen is J.K. Rowling's favorite author?  In fact, she once spoke of her favorite Austen novel, Emma, that "I have never set up a surprise ending in a Harry Potter book without knowing I can never, and will never, do it anywhere near as well as Austen did in Emma."  And Argus Filch's beloved cat, Mrs. Norris, is named after none other than Mansfield Park's annoying aunt, Mrs. Norris.

5. Rudyard Kipling: Okay, okay--so I cheated here.  Rudyard Kipling is not a book or a movie, but a person--aka "the dude who wrote The Jungle Book".  So Baloo dancing to and singing "Bare Necessities" frankly has nothing to do with Marianne Dashwood weeping "Willoughby, Willoughby!" whilst longingly watching Combe Magna, but the creator of the former character was a huge fan of the creator of the latter character.  When I say huge, I mean huge--to the extent that the guy is the one who popularized the term "Janeites", the word Austen-maniacs (like yours truly) call themselves, through a story about a bunch of veterans (dudes, obviously) who are really big Austen fans (to be honest, I haven't read it...yet; and apparently another famous Austen fan, C.S. Lewis, actually blasted the story--but that's another tangent I won't get into) and even wrote a lovely--and perhaps even tear-inducing--poem entitled "Jane's Marriage" (yes, that Jane).  I could really write a whole 'nother post about Austen's other big author fans, but Kipling is probably the most prominent (as in most influential) of them all.

Sneaky Miss Austen!  She just turns up everywhere in culture--where else have you folks seen her (that is, in places not directly related to her works)?

Top 10 Things Hollywood Gets Wrong About High School

For a while now it has bugged me how Hollywood has portrayed high schools. Sure it's a movie and we all know it's not real--even the ones based on a true story--but most of the high school movies have moved on to the point of being absolutely absurd. So to satisfy my practical side, I've come up with a list of 10 things Hollywood just doesn't get right about high school.

1. There is no clear distiction between the "cool kids" and the "nerds". Just like every person is multifaceted with several interests, so are the "subsects" of high school social classes. Just because one person is in the marching band doesn't mean that they can't also be an awesome soccer player or the school mascot is a complete loser. Our school mascot was also on the track team, was well liked, could do or build anything, and now, five years later, works for NASA.

Although I don't think the all white plus white lipstick helps.

2. Not all high schoolers--even the most popular--drive cars that cost loads of money or drive at all. Fact is parents having money is not equal to popularity AND just because they have money doesn't mean that they're willing to spend a great amount on an inexperienced driver. In these economic times I don't think many parents can afford cars for themselves let alone teenagers. Back when times were a little easier there were still a plethora of licensed drivers taking the bus. Not only is it cheaper (considering cost of car, insurance, tags, and gas), but it's more ecofriendly.

3. Dress code. There is no way students would be allowed to wear hardly anything you see them wear in movies or on TV. Most schools' dress code is as follows: no hats, no baggy pants, no revealing of underwear, skirt can be no shorter than a few inches above the knee, all tank tops must have straps several inches wide, no tight-fitting clothing and forget about wearing anything revealing--you'll be sent home. Even school dances have dress codes and again, they will send you home!

Yes, all three of you need to go home and change right now.

4. Lack of backpacks/bags. Particularly with the female students the lack of having some sort of bag to carry all the essentials (other than some small purse that would barely hold today's large-screen-but-really-small cell phones) is like they're showing a school worthy of the "Twilight Zone". Your locker--which I will get to later--is probably located in some absurd location that you never have time to visit. The few minutes you have to get to your next class is not enough time to make it to your locker located 5 miles away. Thus, you need a bag to hold your various sets of books and notebooks--and then probably a bigger bag just to haul all of your homework home.

5. Kids/teens are not so self-absorbed in current culture that they have no sense history. Usually this is used as a comedic reference as to the cultural differences between the misunderstood teen and the dorky adult. Hollywood seems to think that if it's not part of the current fad, then the youth is unaware of it. Heads up, Hollywood, I have a friend who is 17 and is the biggest fan of Frank Sinatra as well as the rest of the Rat Pack. A few teens I know are crazy about math and are learning its history! Also, I know a rather petulant person who is completely obsessed with ancient civilizations. People aren't oblivious up until the day of graduation and then suddenly realize they want to be botanists.

Sorry, Seventeen magazine says I don't care about that.

6. PDA. Very much like the dress code, the blatant Public Displays of Affection follow a strict set of rules. In the movies you see the typical couple being completely inappropriate on the protagonist's locker. No school would ever allow for this to happen--particularly repeat offenses. Teachers do monitor the halls in between classes and several schools have surveillance cameras set up throughout the building. Usually the most couples can do is hug...not quite the same as what you've seen in theaters is it?

7. High schoolers do not look like they are in their mid-20s. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves on the list. You don't go from middle school/junior high looking like your family's favorite pet name for you is "munchkin" to being one of those models from Abercrombie and Fitch. It just doesn't work like that. At this time in our lives we're working on growing into ourselves. That means crooked teeth, awkward hair decisions, squeaking voices, and yes, ZITS! Not even the girls that I was completely envious of got to escape the dreaded pimple.

Only 3 of us actually were teens when this movie was released.

8. Pristine schools which include ample locker space. Come on, Hollywood! This is a public building...filled with teenagers...rushing in a herd of other teenagers to get to their respective classes...for years on end. Things will get scuffed. Paint gets chipped. Lockers? Scratched and dented. Also, since I mentioned lockers, you would be hard pressed to find a school that has lockers that can fit a nerdy student. Lockers usually don't extend all the way to the ground--what a waste of space! You might be lucky to get a top locker or you may have to squeeze in between the legs of other students to get to your bottom locker. My last year of  high school had Freshmen and Sophomores sharing lockers due to how crowded we were.

9. Everyone knows a choreographed dance and performs it during the big school dance. Are you kidding me? People couldn't even get coordinated enough to stand up at the same time to cheer on their team. (Invention of the Wave anyone?) Also, people actually exist outside of school. Once the last bell rings, people are going to practice, study groups, home, work, or another million possibilities. Sure you could say that there could be a dance (during the dance) committee to teach everyone how to do a specified dance, but it would be extremely hard to get the entire school to show. Unless it's something like the Hokey Pokey, the Macarena, or the Funky Chicken (which no one wants to bring out at a formal) there isn't going to be a super cool dance everyone knows done at a predetermined time.

Even while doing the "cool" dance they still look goofy.

10. The anti-freshman mentality. The main worry of mine transitioning from middle school to high school was the fact that there was going to be an ENTIRE year before me of relentless torture. All the TV shows and movies I saw showed that the whole student body thought Freshmen were the scum of humanity. You should just lay low and pray for Sophomore year to come swiftly. Guess what? Not. True. The other students couldn't care less that I was a Freshman. In fact, on my first day, when I had a hard time finding my classes, several pointed me in the right direction. As long as your ambition isn't to thoroughly annoy the upperclassmen, then most will pay you no mind or take you under their wing.

There you have it! Is your mind blown? Did you nod in agreement at least once? Are there any that you think are obvious, but I've missed?

*Emma (2009)

How I Watched the Movie: First watched on Masterpiece's website online, and later bought on DVD from BN (I think it was)

In Short: beautiful, witty, fun

I'm a Janeite, if you didn't already know. I will never tire of Pride and Prejudice, I know the story of Sense and Sensibility like the back of my hand, Northanger Abbey never ceases to make me squee with utter joy, Persuasion makes my heart sigh with the happiness of a fulfilling romance, and Mansfield Park...well, I have a bit of an issue with it, but that's another tangent entirely.

So being a said Janeite, I of course had seen the two 1996 adaptations of Emma (along with Clueless, of course) and knew the story very well, a coming-of-age chronicle of the ups and downs in the "career" of a wealthy wannabe matchmaker who simply muddled in everyone's business a little too much for their--much less her--own good, and for the longest time I was quite content and greatly enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow's film version.

Until I became as spoiled as Emma Woodhouse herself.

Let me first make it simple: I've seen the 2009 miniseries more times than I can count (and I'm certain is nearing ten, which, considering this is four hours long, is quite a feat). But to make an adequate review, let me break things down a bit in a way I don't usually do them:

• Casting. When I first heard that Emma was being remade, I was, frankly, iffy about it. "We don't need another Emma!" I said. "The Paltrow movie was great enough!" Wrong. When I saw the cast list on Wikipedia for the first time, I wrinkled my nose. Romola Garai as the eponymous Miss Woodhouse? Johnny Lee Miller as the chivalrous Mr Knightley? Michael Gambon as Emma's valetudinarian father? It didn't sound right. How Nicholas Nickleby's little sis, Edmund Bertram (also Angelina Jolie's first husband, believe it or not), and Albus Dumbledore could fit into one miniseries I couldn't figure out. It didn't sound right. I'd seen Garai in multiple movies, all period dramas, as traumatized Kate (Nicholas Nickleby), mercenary Gwendolen (Daniel Deronda), and wimpy Celia (As You Like It). None of these roles made me think she'd make a good Emma (she was also Barbara Spooner in Amazing Grace, a dominant, kick-bum role, if I may say so myself), but being a Janeite--and since I did enjoy her acting and those movies she had been in--I was still interested in watching this. Am I glad I did. There are a few casts I think fit perfectly together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and this is one of them. Everyone was practically the characters come to life. I couldn't have been more wrong about Garai as Emma--practically made for the role, she had comedy, emotion, innocence, and poise: everything required to play Emma, in contrast to Paltrow's prissy, snobbish counterpart. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten more recognition, having been snubbed at the Emmys and the BAFTAs (thank goodness for the Golden Globes though). I don't follow up on many celebrities, but if I were to draw up a list of my favorite actresses, she has definitely made it onto mine. Michael Gambon couldn't have been a better Mr Woodhouse (he made me crack up more times than I can count), and each character was perfectly casted, especially Harriet Smith (Louise Dylan), Jane Fairfax (Laura Pyper), and Frank Churchill (Rupert Evans, aka Frederick Hale from North and South--!!!). Amazing cast.
• Accuracy. I read the novel not long after first watching this and was blown away by how accurate this adaptation was. Each Austen novel has an adaptation that corresponds to it dutifully (take Colin Firth's P&P), and this is Emma's.
• Music. I could listen to the beginning score for hours...it is simply gorgeous. The first time I heard it, I was in love. When it opens with the absolutely beautiful opening credits sequence, all my previous qualms about this version of Emma were instantly removed. I just want the soundtrack badly. Listen to it here (I can't seem to find the artwork from the opening credits, but I suppose that is a good incentive for you to go watch the whole thing yourself ;) ).
• Costumes. The costume designers certainly didn't get the Emmy nod for no reason (and they were sorely snubbed, in my opinion). If you watch the bonus features on the DVD, they explain how they chose their color palette, and each costume corresponds exactly with each character. The people who worked on this took such care to follow Austen's masterpiece and understand it so well that they know down to the exact shade that Jane Fairfax would wear and the styles that Harriet Smith would mimic from Emma. (As a side note, my favorite was Emma's ball gown--simply wonderful.)
• Settings. The places picked were perfectly suited for the adaptation: the coziness of Hartfield, the dark and masculine Donwell, the sweet comfort of Highbury, the cramped Bates home, the relaxed atmosphere of Randalls...each location was carefully picked to match these fictional places. These places were so beautiful that it made me want to step inside Emma's world and live there. The interior design, especially of the Hartfield sitting room, was splendid...love, love, love!

Red Flags: Nothing that should be of any concern; it is as clean as it can get! It is a romance, but there is nothing above a sweet kiss. One character is said to be illegitimate, and all that is said about that is how it reflects on her status in society.

Grading

Plot: 10/10

Acting: 10/10

Screenwriting: 10/10

Originality: 10/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall: 50/50

Tidbits

Original Release Date: October 4, 2009 (in U.K.)

Length: 240 min

Director: Jim O'Hanlon

Producer: Phillippa Giles, George Ormond

Production Company: BBC Drama Productions

MPAA Rating: NR (but as good as G, I think)

Back!

I honestly don't know how many posts I've done with the same title above, but...here goes!

So I've been totally neglecting this blog, and only really got back around to writing and posting on it after being reinspired by Julie and Julia (not that I was about to give up blogging--I was just being lazy), and because I'm kind of bored right now.

Hopefully, I won't be so lazy to write up some posts and and reviews for you all!  And yes, I am on summer vacation...which should mean that I WOULD get more time to post on here but actually doesn't...it means I slack off a lot and attempt to study for the SAT.  (Yes, I'm asking for luck on the latter.) ;) Anywho, I feel like this summer vacation is going to be like some new year thing...hence, some resolutions.  That is, if I can keep them. ;)

• Try to figure out a good blogging schedule, and STICK with it!
• READ.  I have to finish all the books in my TBR pile before school starts. :P (In total, I have forty-seven books, two of which I've already finished only because I was almost done with them anyway.  I'm almost done with another two though...so wish me luck!  I may do a counter thing on my sidebar for it.  I would LOVE you if you told me where I can make the best widget where I can do a sort of countdown thing showing how many books I've finished for my mini challenge.)
• WRITE.  I'm absolutely determined to finish my book before summer ends.  I'm aiming for 2K a day, a common NaNoWriMo goal I think.  I'm hoping I can push myself to make this like NaNo, but more serious.  Plus, I have more time and I'm a good ways into my WIP.  (And yes, words cannot express how much I adore my book.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.)
• SAT prep, as stated before...
• Learn more guitar songs!  Master them!  (I really want to master "Goodbyes" by Savannah Outen, "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne, "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer, "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland" by Jewel, among others, especially now that I have actual picks!  w00t!)
• Learn more piano songs...properly.  I'm absolutely determined to learn almost all of Regina Spektor's songs, and if I don't explode.  Or implode.  Maybe not really, but I'll be very, very frustrated.  I at least have to get "Samson", "On the Radio", "Fidelity", "Eet", "Laughing With", "Dance Anthem of the 80s", "Ne Me Quitte Pas", "Two Birds", among others, solid.  Okay, maybe at least a couple of those.
• Finally jot down some good songs. :P
• Exercise.  Yeah.  For some reason, putting that on here seems a bit of a TMI...oh well.
• Change up the layout a little.  I might change the background to make it less spring-y and more summer-y, but if you guys notice, the static pages have kind of shifted around.  See it?
• Chat with my pals on Skype and gmail!  Guys, e-mail me or something!!!

This isn't possibly a little too much for my summer plate, is it?  Just wish me luck on them all...especially the reading thing, and the writing thing, and the SAT thing. :P Oh, and I also have a tumblr, though I have no idea what to do with it.  It'll mostly be a thing throwing out shameless plugs and quotes and songs and random thoughts once in awhile, but maybe eventually I'll figure out some good use for it.

What are you all doing this summer? :D

Truth: May Folks Are Awesome

Note: the above picture WAS the same one I used last year for Priya. It's just so cute!

I'm not one to really believe in horoscopes--I just find the ones about people's personality based on their date of birth or what year they're born in funny. (And I also really, really hate daily horoscopes. Very vague, very retarded. A total waste of time.)

However, I've noticed something pretty darn amazing: many people born towards the end of May are AWESOME. They're just amazing. They do all sorts of different things, but they are so wicked cool. If you're not convinced, or you're angry at me because I didn't say that your birthday is awesome (which it probably is, but I'm just focusing on May here because, well, it IS May), just read on to find out.

Jackson Pearce (May 21, 1984)
So...our names are every-so-slightly similar (because if you call her Jackie and me Jackie, we would easily have the same name), but...c'mon. She's a YA author and a singer who totally pwned Ke$ha a few days ago with her hit single "Writers' Blok" (which, by the way, I'm currently playing on repeat on my iPod. Just so you know.). Not only did she debut last year (book-wise) with a novel that sounds eerily similar to one of my favorite TV shows, I Dream of Jeannie (As You Wish, which, I believe, is also somewhat based on a Shakespeare play), but also her second novel (a fairy-tale retelling, another favorite genre of mine), Sisters Red, is coming out very soon and can already be bought from various bookstores!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859)
C'mon! It's the creator of Sherlock Holmes! And he was also a sort of sidekick helper-guy in Shanghai Knights. Though he isn't the author to first start writing the detective novel (that honor goes to Wilkie Collins with his novel The Moonstone, which I own and must read soon!), he established a classic book series that could be called Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys for Victorian era adults. In case you were wondering, my bucket list consists of reading the whole collection of Sherlock Holmes books--I've already read The Hound of the Baskervilles, one that I really enjoyed considering it was for summer reading freshman year.

spider (May 24)
Spider is awesome because: 1. I met her on LRRH back in the day, hence making her awesome. 2. She was on LRRH because she's a fan of Shannon Hale. 3. Her blog ROCKS. 4. She is freaking hilarious. 5. She's a constant blog reader of mine--that automatically gets sweet-and-awesome points in my book. ;) 6. She once helped me out with a project for Journalism/Yearbook. 7. We're both juniors born in the same year (though not all juniors born in the same year as us are awesome. Just saying. ;) ). 8. I think she tagged me before for a meme. Or I tagged her. 9. She could probably figure out I'm trying to come up with ten reasons why she's cool. 10. She is just cool. :)

Jewel (May 23, 1974)
Possibly one of the most talented singer-songwriter-guitarists out there. I simply adore songwriters who can weave poetry into music, a gift I wish I had, and Jewel can simply do it. I listened to "Goodbye Alice in Wonderland" on Sunday, forgetting it was her birthday (and I hadn't listened to her in awhile--however, I randomly had gotten it stuck in my head one day and didn't get to listen to it until then). Oh, and speaking of poetry, did you know that she actually wrote and published a book of poetry (and not just the lyrics written down in a book, though she has done that too for charity)? So neat. :)

Queen Victoria (May 24, 1819)
Um, hello? This is THE QUEEN. The one who reigned for sixty-something years in England and conquered almost the whole world (hence the proverb, "The sun never sets on the British empire.") including Europe, though the latter was more through her children's marriages (which is why she is called the grandmother of Europe, I believe). And as a side note, I have watched the mini-series on her, which was okay (and which starred Colin Firth's younger brother as Prince Albert! OMG! There is practically no resemblance whatsoever!), and I really want to see the new movie of her. :)

Frank Oz (May 25, 1944)
We all know it was Jim Henson who started the Muppets, but without Frank Oz directing the Muppets movies, they might not be as popular as they are today. He made Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Grover, and Cookie Monster a voice (literally speaking) 'cause...c'mon, what would the Muppets be without a pearl-wearing blonde pig, or what would Sesame Street be without that sweet-toothed blue fellow?

Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895)
To you, she may just be a name in a history book, but really, her work from the Great Depression (such as Migrant Mother, which I'm sure you've seen somewhere) strikes Americans to the core even today upon realization of the hardships and struggles that the poor had to endure during the thirties. So Ms. Lange's awesome factor? Very high, considering her impact and her photographs' impact--especially at a time when photos were a pretty new medium still--on the U.S.

Sally Ride (May 26, 1951)
First of all, I'd like to say that if we play the Degrees of Separation game (which I LOVE), I'm two degrees from this amazing astronaut. TWO degrees from the first American woman astronaut! So. Neat. Her story always fascinated me, especially due to the fact that even though I'm not a fan of science, astronomy (NOT astrology, again, mind) interested me a lot, especially when I was in elementary school. I think she also taught (or is teaching) at Stanford, which also adds to her awesome factor in my book (even though chances are slim that I would get into there).

Helena Bonham-Carter (May 26, 1966)
Lucy Honeychurch. Lady Jane. Ophelia. Mrs Bucket. Bellatrix Lestrange. Admit it: this actress has played so many of literature's most famous characters, and she plays them well to boot. Not only that, she's Mr Bingley's cousin! Well, a "distant" cousin of the actor who plays Bingley in the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (ever noticed how in the credits there was always some fellow with the last name Bonham-Carter? That's him).

Colbie Caillat (May 28, 1985)
Another favorite singer-songwriter-guitarist of mine born around this time (though she is also a pianist and ukuleleist). I simply love her music because it's one of those that you simply can't place in one single genre, because it's one all of its own. Well, I've written a review raving about her debut album, so you should know already how much I enjoy listening to her songs. :)

What do these people all have in common? Some love literature, others music, others history (or they are part of history) and me...wait, why am I mentioning me? Is it...possibly my birthday? Could it be that I joined the ranks of these amazing people seventeen years ago?

YES! It's true! I...I...I'm a cool May person! I have something in common with these people! Um...wow!
Wow, as in...that wasn't just so corny. Well, 'nuff about me.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of these folks, though for many of them it is either a belated or an early birthday wish. :P

**Nota Bene/Disclaimer: You could totally call this list biased, because upon research, the writer/blogger/birthday girl found that there were also some not-so-awesome folks born in the end of May as well. Such as Cambodian dictators and untalented singers. Just saying.**

Also, folks I didn't mention but whom I also wish a happy birthday to include (but are not limited to): Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803), Ian McKellan (May 25, 1939), Amelia Bloomer (May 27, 1818). There were also several others, but I'll probably include them and those just listed in a post...in exactly a year from now. :)

BTW, I so would have posted this earlier had not HTML been such a jerk to me last night. :P